Thematically, this book channels many of the original conceits of Marston's in his crafting of Wonder Woman. While a lot of the reviews I have read focused on the sapphic and bondage angles, or the male gaze of the art, I would like to focus on some others.

Let's start with this:

"Not even girls want to be girls so long as our feminine archetype lacks force, strength, and power. Not wanting to be girls, they don't want to be tender, submissive, peace-loving as good women are. Women's strong qualities have become despised because of their weakness. The obvious remedy is to create a feminine character with all the strength of Superman plus all the allure of a good and beautiful woman."

Certainly, the quote is grounded a little in the context of its time, but the message here is clear: Wonder Woman was supposed to be not just a female superhero for girls to look up to or identify with, but one with all of Clark's strengths in addition to her own. As Superman was a masculine ideal, Wonder Woman was intended as his feminine counterpart. She was and is as much a response to the masculine as she is something unique, even now, when superwomen are common in the funny books.

But Marston didn't stop there.

“The truest kindness to any woman is to provide her with an opportunity for self-expression in some constructive field: to work, not at home with cook-stove and scrubbing brush, but outside, independently, in the world of men and affairs.”

And so she does. Wonder Woman steps out of the role provided for her, and to her, and the role that is expected of her, and she enter's 'the world of men and affairs' where she becomes the woman she wants to be, not the woman she is expected to be. And she does this herself. She needs no one to provide it to her, she takes it. I would posit, however, that she does so in a way that is very much in character for her. It is not really angry so much as it is frustrated in its impetus. Wonder Woman has always been a moral compass, a voice of compassion and understanding that exists as a counterbalance to her upbringing as a warrior. So she does not punish her sisters for their hidebound traditions, she simply seeks to free herself of them.

A final quote from Marston seals my interpretation of the book:

“The only hope for civilization is the greater freedom, development, and equality of women in all fields of human activity.”

Morrison has produced a highly atypical superhero story here. While allegory is relatively common in the medium, he is one of its better purveyors and transcends any objections to his sex. He treats Diana with respect, with an understanding of her origins both on the page and off, and portrays a hero whose use of violence is restrained to the point of being nearly unnecessary. Never have I read such a satisfying superhero yarn with so little violence.

He embraces the ideals that underpin Wonder Woman and crafts a story that stands out as a defiant counterpoint to the hypermasculinity that girds so much of the superhero lexicon, and it does so without pandering, without being ham-fisted.

The art is gorgeous and bright and expressive.

I thoroughly enjoyed this and hope there will be another volume with this creative team.